Welcome Home
by BlueLLama9
Summary: The aftermath of the war keeps Sakura busy, but one of her duties brings Sasuke at her doorstep and with him a resolution to their complicated past.


One would think that after experiencing the chaos of a war, staying up day and night anticipating an enemy attack and having your life at risk at all times, nothing would ever seem hard or tiring ever again. Haruno Sakura, sadly, was proven wrong shortly after the Fourth Shinobi War had ended.

Things were slowly falling into place, but as one of the best medical ninjas in the country and one of the few people the Godaime Hokage could trust, the pink haired kunoichi soon found herself with her hands full: helping run the hospital, assisting the Hokage with masses of paperwork and squeezing in the occasional mission so she does not run out of money.

It was on a rare evening when she had a few hours to herself that she heard a knock on her door. She sighed, dreading to get up from the couch, and walked towards the main entrance of her new house. The first thing that she noticed were the four boxes, stacked on top of each other obstructing the face of the person who was carrying them, but Sakura recognized Sasuke immediately, even without seeing his face.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked, not expecting to see him, especially not as her courier.

"The Hokage sent me, she said you'll need these medical supplies."

"Uhh, follow me."

He followed her through the house and out the back door into the small yard area. Sakura had chosen this house particularly for the small shed in the back yard where she could practice her medical ninjutsu, making poison and antidotes without fear of making a mess in her actual home. She opened the door to the shed and gestured towards a small counter.

"You can leave them here, I'll sort them out."

The whole affair took no more than five minutes, but it felt like much longer to both of them. There was some awkwardness that steeped into all of their interactions, few as they were nowadays, and it made time go a lot slower whenever they were around each other. Sakura was bothered by this and decided that if she wanted things to go back to normal they had to talk things out and see where they stand.

"Thank you for bringing them." she said, looking up at him.

_He's gotten so tall._ she thought

He nodded, his eyes quickly glancing over her shed. The thing was in a miserable state, really. The previous owner didn't use it much and now it looked like it was about to fall down.

"It looks horrible, doesn't it? I need to get around fixing it, but with the hostpial and everything else I barely have any time."

He looked down at her and noticed exactly how tired she was. She had large, dark circles under her eyes, her shoulders were slumped and she did not seem as energetic as she usually was.

"How much longer do you have to slave around?"

"A few more months, I guess. Things are still really hectic and there are a lot of things to go over with the new alliance and the medical program Tsunade-sama is trying to set up, but when that's all done I'll get a break."

Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down. She knew he was not one for small talk, she was surprised he had even asked a question. The temporary ease between them gave her the resolve she needed. They had to talk. Now.

"Do you...want to come in for a drink?"

She glanced at him, trying to keep her expression neutral, and if it had worked perhaps he would have said no, but Sasuke recognized some of the hopefulness always present in Sakura's eyes, so he walked by her into the house and sat down in the living room.

While Sakura was gone in the kitchen, his eyes wandered around the room. It was quite bare, only a few books stacked on some shelves. No paintings, plants or decorations. It didn't seem like anyone was living there, which made him wonder why she had not bothered to liven the place up. He did not focus on that too much though, being too bothered by the nagging feeling that there was more to the invitation than just a friendly drink between ex teammates. With their complicated past and the short temper they were both known for, this could end pretty badly.  
She returned with two glasses of ice tea, handed him one and sat down next to him. He got the sudden urge to stall the upcoming serious conversation so he blurted out:

"Why did you move out of your parent's house?"

She looked surprised for a second, but turned to face him and said:

"It's only temporary. I had to be closer to the hospital since I have to spend so much time there. It just saves a lot of time."

They drank in silence for a few minutes and she wondered if this was a good idea. She didn't know if he even wanted to fix whatever was left of their bond. She knew close to nothing about this taller, more mature looking version of a Sasuke she once had by her side daily. Which reminded her of his presence at her door not too long ago.

"How come you got stuck as a delivery boy?" she asked, in a playful tone.

"I had to go see the Hokage for my reinstatement as a Konoha shinobi. When I was done she asked me to give you the supplies."

_Reinstated. Konoha Shinnobi._

The words echoed through Sakura's mind for what seemed like hours. He was back. He was really, really back. He would not have gone through the trouble if he intended to leave again. She couldn't help but allow a wide smile to spread across her face. The awkwardness, their past, everything was forgotten in that moment when she recalled the one thing she wanted most when he left, which was to have him back for good.

He looked away from her. There was a pang of guilt and the recollection of when they tried to kill each other. He remembered going blind and turning around to see a pale pink spot and a kunai pressed to his back, he remembered his hands around her neck.

"Why would you even consider being happy about this, Sakura?" he asked, still not looking at her.

Her smile disappeared in an instant and she knew this could no longer be avoided. She looked down at their feet and gripped the couch tightly.

"When you left..." she started saying in a voice that was calmer than expected, "all I could do was beg you to stay, and then beg Naruto to bring you back."

He turned his head to look at her and she seemed so frail, so unlike the Sakura that could punch a hole that would shatter every wall in the house.

"And I waited, and trained, and got stronger for three years. And everything that happened in between then and now gave me a million reasons to believe I would never have you sitting on my couch only days away from wearing a Konoha headband again. In spite of what happened, Sasuke-kun, I have this."

She returned his stare, and their eyes met. He was her first crush. She was one of the first people that crawled under his skin after his family died and found a permanent place to live in. He was her first real disappointment and heartbreak. She was one of the many people he thought turned his back on him. They were a lot of things, but right now, at least, they were both home.

"We tried to kill each other." he said. " I tried to destroy everything you care about."

Sakura folded her hands in her lap and bit her lip. She thought she at least had to explain why she tried to kill him, now that she knew why he did.

"What you have to know, Sasuke-kun, is that I didn't know. When you found out the truth... about what happened to your clan, I understand why you did what you did, but back then I didn't know what happened. One second I heard you had accomplished your goal and the next thing I knew was that you joined the Akatsuki."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He thought she was there to hear the story from Obito, or that she would have known from Naruto at least. Things started to make a lot more sense now.

"I didn't..." she tried to continue, but her voice started breaking. " I didn't know what to do, Sasuke-kun, they told me we had to kill you to avoid more conflict, they told me you were going around committing crimes and I didn't know how to save you from that. I couldn't bear the thought of you becoming this person I knew you weren't so I thought maybe it was best to..."

She placed a hand in front of her mouth, trying to calm the sobs that were threatening to escape. She clenched her fist and bit hard into it.

_This is not the time to lose it._

Sasuke had not expected to feel this ease in his chest. It was, in a way, easier to accept that anyone could turn on him at any time, but to think that this girl, this once fragile, helpless girl would think of saving him even when he had betrayed everything she cared about, it was overwhelming. It was easy to ignore his bonds, pretend they didn't exist. It was easy to pretend they didn't matter when they shouldn't, but erasing them was a completely different story. It was a lot harder to deny the unconditional love he once knew and missed and reject it.  
They sat in silence for a while, forgetting about their drinks, trying to breathe normally, and then Sasuke spoke:

"I'm sorry I tried to kill you. I'm sorry I didn't know better."

Sakura thought about her reply for a while, and she noticed that even thought it was hard to talk about, the conversation filled her with a sense of relief. It was now more than a thought digging away into her brain until she went mad. It was now out into the world, floating between her and Sasuke, leading to a resolution.

"I'm sorry too. About everything that happened to you, not just what I've done."

"Thank you." he said, simply.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the familiar words she carried with her into her darkest days. He seemed different now, more calm, slightly more open. She made a mental note to thank Naruto for his big part in this extraordinary change.

Sasuke drank the rest of his ice tea in one go and sat up. He watched Sakura for a moment then he started walking towards the door, Sakura soon following. The hardest conversation they have had to have was no over and they both needed some time to think about it. As he was walking out the door she couldn't help but ask:

"Sasuke-kun.. are we okay now?"

It wouldn't be that fast or simple, she knew this was just the beginning, but she needed to know. As he turned around she certainly got her answer.

"Yes, we're okay." he said, and smiled a small, beautiful smile.

She watched him walk away, this time feeling content, knowing she will see him again soon. She decided it was time to do some work so she rushed over to unpack the supplies from the shed. Filled with a strange, uplifting energy, she took some books from inside the boxes into the house, sat down on the couch in the spot occupied by Sasuke not too long ago and started reading. After a few hours she was fast asleep.

Sakura woke up fairly late the next day. She had no idea how or why she slept so much but she began to panic immediately. She started rushing through her house, trying to get ready to leave when she noticed something strange.

_Is that paint that I smell?_

It was coming from her back yard. She peeked out the open window and noticed her shed looked perfect. You could not see one crack in the walls or any imperfection, and it was now covered in a smiple, white layer of paint. She walked outside barefoot, examining it, when she stepped into something.

"Ow, fuck." she said out loud.

Sasuke's head peeked from behind the shed. His sweaty, slightly dirty and curious looking face was staring at a half dressed Sakura. Their eyes met and for a second she forgot where she was.

"Are you okay?" he asked, setting the can of paint aside and the brush on top of it.

He looked a bit flustered. He did not expect to find her at home.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

He cleared his throat, not knowing exactly how to explain that yesterday's conversation made him feel guilty about everything he's done and he was trying to do something for her but without her finding out it was him.

"I didn't have much to do today."

That didn't answer her question, but she let it go just this once. She smiled at him and mouthed thank you. For some reason she couldn't say it out loud without getting choked up. Time seemed to freeze around them and she took a step forward. She didn't know exactly what she was doing or why she was doing it, but the sudden burst of affection for Sasuke told her she had to do it.

Tears spilled out of her eyes and she looked up at him, now being only a few inches away from his body. He looked bewildered, and he didn't know how to respond to her tears. His body tensed for a second when he felt her arms slip around him and hold him tightly. He remembered the countless times she did this and how he missed having a person show they cared about him, especially now when half of the village wanted him to pay for what he's done, or tried to do. He slowly, hesitantly put his arms around her and hugged her. He felt how fast her heart was beating, and how she held him as if she wanted to make sure he was really there, and he said the only thing that came to his mind:

"I'm sorry I left."

She laughed, a bubbly, clear laugh, in between her happy tears then looked up at him. She could feel a small stain of paint hardening on her skin, probably acquired from Sasuke's arms and for the first time in a long time, she felt happy.

"Welcome home."


End file.
